


...Could it Be?

by Rose_gold_goddess



Series: So Take My Heart, It's All That's Left [1]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Another Story (Mystic Messenger), Another Story Spoilers (Mystic Messenger), F/M, MC is an OC, Not Canon Compliant, POV V | Kim Jihyun, Protective V | Kim Jihyun, Self-Blame, V | Kim Jihyun's Route, like always, smol angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 02:42:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17889992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_gold_goddess/pseuds/Rose_gold_goddess
Summary: She exuded warmth and kindness, an openness that was positively infectious. He had hoped it wasn’t an act, and now watching her smile and pluck a daisy from the garden to tuck behind her ear he knew his instincts had been correct.





	...Could it Be?

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea after the last one shot I wrote, so reordering the series chronologically now, hehe. Just having fun fleshing out scenes to write out my feelings for V's route as I play through Another Story, and again the MC is named and described instead of using the default MC.
> 
> Chloe:
> 
>  

The majority of his day seemed to be spent in his room working, and V found it hard to linger as much as he wanted to to watch his comings and goings. All day he had passed as many times as he could, determined to see if he could trace him to where he suspected those flowers had gone.

If only he had been able to follow him the night before…

He found himself lucky when he happened to be checking and saw a magenta-clad figure hurrying down the hall away from his room. After double- and triple-checking his surroundings, he crept quietly after him, making certain his hood was secure over his head.

Even luckier was the fact that his quarry was buried in his phone, typing rapidly and breathing heavily as he walked briskly to whatever destination he sought so eagerly. He rounded a corner and V stopped instead of following around it, listening intently as he glanced behind him. A few quick knocks carried down the hallway, and then the sound of a door opening.

“Hi, Ray,” a soft voice greeted. There was a breathy, shy quality to it that hinted at warmth beneath the slight trepidation - a warmth he felt fairly certain he might recognize.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t visit more often,” Ray greeted in return as V peeked around the corner. But whoever he was speaking to was standing inside the door, blocked by Ray and the angle at which V stood.

“It’s fine, after all aren’t you busy?”

“I am, but I wanted to see you. I hope I’m not bothering you. The air is good tonight,” Ray paused for a moment, fidgeting with his gloved hand beside his thigh. “It’s the perfect weather to take a walk! Remember what I told you yesterday?”

“You told me about a garden,” the sweet voice answered.

“Yes, and I’m going to take you there!” Ray told her.

V pulled back around the corner, wishing to avoid being seen by either of them. Now he knew where he could observe them, though, and he hurried back down the hallway, doing his best to muffle his footsteps as he went.

The garden would be a perfect opportunity, with plenty of hedges and bushes to hide him as he tried to discern what was going on. He still wasn’t completely certain the soft voice did actually belong to who he thought it might, but he knew that following Ray was sure to point him in the right direction to get to the bottom of everything.

Once within the gardens he slowed, walking evenly and patiently to avoid suspicion from any who may happen to pass by. The Believers leaving the gardens paid him little mind, and he followed a path behind the bushes, keeping the entrance to the gardens in his sight.

A few minutes passed, his body tensed and his heart racing as he did his best to stay close enough to see well without being seen himself. Soon the familiar voices drifted to him as the pair entered the gardens, and V peered through a gap in the bush before him.

“It’s so great to be here with you!” Ray was saying, eagerly nodding and smiling. The way he turned to point something out blocked his companion from sight, and V cursed silently to himself.

“You’re right the - the gardens are beautiful,” the warm voice answered, and finally a small figure moved into the light.

Whatever V had expected, he wasn’t certain it was this, and he blinked slightly to try to clear his vision so that he could try to soak in every aspect he could manage. Moonlight and the lights along the path caught on bright, flame red hair until V almost wondered if a sheet of liquid fire hung down her back. The strands fell forward and almost glittered as she bent over a flower, holding it between delicate fingers. She closed her eyes, a soft smile parting beautiful, full rose pink lips as she drank in the scent of the flower.

She was wearing a simple black dress with an open maroon flannel shirt over it, and when she straightened from smelling the flower she folded her arms as if bracing herself against the chill. As she looked out over the rest of the gardens she turned so that she faced where V hid directly, and he held still so that she didn’t see him through the leaves.

 

_She’s so young - how did she get wrapped up in all of this?_

 

There was an angelic, wide-eyed innocence to her, in the way she looked over the gardens, in the way she held her arms so tightly against herself as if unsure. She kept her distance from Ray, more interested in looking around the gardens than engaging him in conversation, almost seeming to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

“I’m glad you like them,” Ray told her, bouncing slightly on his toes as he watched her. “That’s - that’s the rose I sent you a picture of. That one right there.”

“Oh, you - you remember which one?” the girl asked, glancing between the rose and Ray. “It’s even more beautiful in person. But…”

“Is something wrong?”

“What is this place? It’s so odd,” she mused, turning in place as she looked over the gardens and the building behind them.

“It’s - oh, it’s where I make my game, and...let’s just say it’s a sort of paradise,” Ray answered, still eagerly following her movements with his gaze as she paced. There was a hunger evident on his face, and it made V’s stomach turn as he noticed how oblivious the girl was to the younger man’s attentions.

“A paradise? I thought it was a game company,” the girl finally responded, frowning as she faced Ray once more. The look of hunger remained in his gaze, and she tilted her head as she looked at him, shifting slightly on her feet.

“The goal of this place is to create dreams and happiness! I guess you can say this is...a non-commercial entertainment company.” Ray took a few steps forward as he nodded. “Yes, something like that.”

“I see,” she agreed, and turned once more to one of the flower bushes.

“Do you want to know what any of the flowers are? What’s - what’s your favorite flower?” Ray asked as he closed the distance between them. “We have so many here - I mentioned the anemone, do you wish to see it? Or we have peonies, gardenias, freesias, lilies, all kinds of roses, I can show you them all, or -”

“I like daisies,” the girl told him with a small shrug. “Just the simple daisy, I’ve always thought it was so pretty.”

“The daisy?” Ray repeated, and he gestured with a hand to another path. “We have several varieties. In the language of flowers it means purity, innocence, new beginnings. It can also mean loyal, true love. Although it can - it can also symbolize that the person can keep a secret.”

Their voices were fading as they moved along the new path, and V slowly followed behind the bushes, still doing his best to keep out of sight. The more he listened to her voice, the more certain he felt that it was her, the soft sound of her laughter carrying on the breeze to where he hid.

“Now that I know your favorite flower, I can make sure your room is filled with them,” he heard Ray say as he got closer once more. “I want you to be happy. I want you to - stay here. With me.”

“Um...how much longer do I have in the game? I mean, am I - am I getting close to the ending? I realized I never asked how long this job lasted,” she replied. V shifted to peer through branches again, watching as she lightly fingered the petals of a white daisy.

 

_Game? Ending? Job? What had they told her?_

 

It brought a sliver of hope to him, the notion that she really was being used. That she didn’t know the true purpose of why she was here, that she wasn’t actually involved in it, at least not willingly.

 

_A victim. And one so innocent, too._

 

She had to be. The impressions he had gotten from speaking with her, in the messenger and over the phone, seemed to be true. She exuded warmth and kindness, an openness that was positively infectious. He had hoped it wasn’t an act, and now watching her smile and pluck a daisy from the garden to tuck behind her ear he knew his instincts had been correct.

“Soon. You’ll be able to save them all soon,” Ray told her. “Oh, but you seem cold. There’s so much more I need to speak with you about, but I must return to my work. I’ll walk you back to your room…”

The girl looked over the clusters of daisies, absently running her fingers through where they grew as if trailing them through a stream. A sigh seemed to leave her, brows knitting together slightly even as a smile played at the corners of her lips. Whatever thought she lost herself in appeared almost bittersweet, unable to tear her eyes away from the daisies.

“Come along, Chloe,” Ray said, holding out one gloved hand to indicate the path behind them. “I’ll see you safely to your room.”

The sound of the name made V’s heart clench, insides twisting as he watched the way she glanced back at Ray. She brushed at the strands of reddish gold that blew across her face in the breeze and tucked them securely behind her ear before she followed him back to the garden’s entrance. V stealthily made his way along the bushes, peering around the edge to watch Chloe follow Ray up the steps and back inside.

“So it is her…” he murmured to himself, and then glanced around the garden to make certain he was still alone. He would wait a few minutes, and then call her. He had to, had to hear her voice, ask her and see if he could figure out how she had ended up in this situation.

Quietly he hurried through the gardens to a place he knew to be secure, where he could make the call without interruption. She would hopefully be alone by now, and he quickly dialed her through the messenger.

“Hi, V!” she answered, followed by the same laughter he had just heard carried to him across the gardens.

“Chloe, are you free?” he asked, wondering at the way his heart was still thumping so intently in his ribcage.

“I’m always free for you,” she told him, and he noticed a slightly more delicate pitch come into her voice than he had heard in the garden. “What’s up?”

“I told you I’d call, didn’t I?” he assured her, hoping she could hear the sincerity of his promise in his voice.

“Of course,” she agreed. “I’m glad you did.”

“It’s - it’s nothing, but there was something I wanted to ask you,” he began slowly, treading carefully with his words and the way his voice wanted to waver. “Are you - are you staying alone by any chance? Or is there...perhaps someone who is frequently visiting you?”

“Worried that I’m lonely?” she countered, giggling girlishly after she said it. Before he could try to ask again since she hadn’t answered his question, she continued. “I’m less lonely talking to you. I wish...I wish it was possible for you to visit me. I saw something beautiful this evening and wished I could show it to you, but…”

She trailed off, a wistful sigh filling the silence, and he remembered the look of melancholy that had come upon her as she studied the daisies.

“Perhaps you can show me when we meet, or tell me about it,” he replied after a moment, trying to keep the conversation open. He didn’t want her to suspect why he was asking, hoping she would trust he just wanted to check on her. “I wish we could see one another in person too…”

 

_That way I could determine if you’re in danger, if you’re safe or if you’re involved…_

 

“If only that were possible.” She heaved another sigh, but quickly buried it in a laugh that almost sounded forced.

“I was only wondering if you were in a safe place,” he insisted with a frown, wondering at her tone. “I was worried about you and I apologize, I hope I haven’t...upset or offended you.”

“I like how much you worry about me, it’s sweet,” she murmured. “It almost feels real...um, never mind.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

He frowned again, uncertain what she had been told or if he had heard her correctly. “If you’re all right, and safe, then I - I am relieved. But um, can you promise me one thing?”

“Of course.”

“Can you tell us - or tell me - if you feel like something is going to happen? Maybe it might be helpful to us, maybe we could help you,” he told her.

“Hm...all right,” Chloe agreed. “I’ll tell you if something’s up.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” V told her, resisting the sigh of relief that she had taken his concern well. “I’m really worried about you. I hope nothing happens to you, I -”

The confession had slipped from his throat without him meaning for it to, and he cleared his throat.

“Anyhow, you should always take care. I’ll - I’ll look after you, the best I can,” he corrected himself.

“I’ll look after you too, V,” she replied easily, and he almost thought he could hear the smile in her voice. Now that he had seen it, had observed her radiance and warmth in person it was easy to picture it in her soft voice as well. “You always sound so heavy, like you need someone to care about you too…”

“Sorry…? Me? I - um.” He found himself at a loss for words, curious how she could say such a thing when she hardly knew him, when she was in the situation he suspected she was in.

“Yes you,” she answered. “You always call to check on me, I wish you could understand I just want to do the same for you. Hmm.”

“I - I am fine, but I appreciate your kind words,” he said after a moment. “I am sorry to have to cut this short, but I have some things I should attend to. I will call you again.”

“Not if I call you first,” she teased, and a playful giggle followed the words. “Thank you for checking on me.”

“Of course. You should - always - look after yourself,” he told her again. “Well, I - please excuse me.”

“Bye, V,” she told him cheerily, and he hung up.

Leaning back against the tree hiding him, V sighed and ran his thumb across the now dark screen of his phone. All he knew now was that she wasn’t openly scared, perhaps didn’t realize that she might be in danger. Still he didn’t get the sense from her that she was an accomplice. Instead he felt more assured that she was an innocent victim, caught up in the swirling eddy that spanned between he and Rika.

“Rika...how could you involve her in this? She’s hardly more than a child,” he muttered to himself, letting out the sigh he had kept within him since his phone call with Chloe. “How many more innocents have to be sacrificed? Please...please not her. Please be satisfied with mine alone…”

Clenching his eyes shut he rubbed at his eyelids with his forefinger and thumb, focusing on the ache as it flared more intently. He needed to solve this quickly, before it got worse. More information, even though he didn’t have much time, but he couldn’t act until he knew with certainty that she wasn’t knowingly or willingly involved in the problems at hand.

“Don’t worry, Chloe. I’ll look after you, and get you out of here. At least this - at least let me have this, let me save her, if I can’t save myself.”


End file.
